Clevedon Salerooms are offering this HMV 163 (Lot 64) with a very low pre-sale estimate. Although local to me, I must resist the temptation to bid on a machine for which I have no use and no space, simply because it might go cheaply.

I tried to post the link to the machine itself, but only the saleroom page appears :

It sold for £272.80 including Buyer's Premium. That is cheap for a 163, but as I did not view the machine I cannot comment on it's condition. The one catalogue picture shows a clean looking case and a winding handle missing it's wooden knob, but that is not much to go on.

If it is in good mechanical order with an undamaged grille and cloth, someone got a bargain.

The 163 pictured is an early standard oak example circa 1928 with the thick framed HMV transfer on the bottom edge of the lid. The other transfer is that of the supplying dealer, I think F.W.Allen of Bristol which is not far from Clevedon.

Most later examples with the HMV transfer in the centre of the lid have a darker oak finish than this, and there was also a golden oak version which sold at the same price as the mahogany. The golden oak version is uncommon. I have only ever seen one and heard of one other.

Thanks for clarifying! Mine had been through a fire at one point and I had wondered if that might be why mine was darker. It was filthy, nearly black when I got it, and it took at least 6 cleanings to remove the smoke damage, but the inside is also equally dark, almost like Victor's gun metal Oak finish. The inside and outside are now both equal in color. If I open the lid in mine after it's been closed for more than a couple of weeks, I can sometimes still get a whiff of fire. Luckily, the machine wasn't damaged at all, other than the filth and extensive cleaning. All the nickel bits were darn brown but with some serious polishing, everything is back to normal.

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